Muntapa Tunnel - Trail Description

Northern entrance to tunnel Dave McLeod - 2007

Location: 15km south of Cooyar, north of Toowoomba, 210km from Brisbane

Start/end: Muntapa Tunnel

Region: Queensland

Length open: 0.6km

Surface: Dirt

Description

Walk through Queensland’s longest straight railway tunnel (287m). It is also quite high being 640m above sea level. Now that trains don't roar through it the tunnel is a seasonal home to a colony of bent winged bats.

The tunnel is sign posted from the main road (access road is unsealed). The road finishes at a park that is actually on the ridge over the tunnel which is the crest of the Great Dividing Range

From the park there is a track to each end of the tunnel, which has long cuttings at each end. It is a steep descent to the cutting at the Cooyar end, the recommended entry for one way traffic. The Oakey end is not as steep but the ground can be soggy here. A torch is necessary to enter the tunnel.

The reserve has a good picnic table but no water. It now has a gas bbq and a waterless toilet. There is also a track which takes you past a couple of ruins from the camp in the construction days.

The trail reserve is managed by the Toowoombah Regional Council.

If planning a visit around winter it may be worth contacting the council as it is closed for a few months so that the bats are not disturbed, increasing their chance of surviving the winter.

This tunnel was on the branch line that was opened from Oakey to Cooyar in 1913 and was closed in 1964.

Trail Map

Gallery

Click any of the photos below for a larger image or display all.

Web Links

• Toowoomba Regional Council Web Site and contact details

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Related Information

• Discuss this trail in our Queensland Rail Trails Forum
• More trails in this region
• Find other trails with our Rail Trail Finder

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